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The cyber-framing of Nigerian nationhood
Descriptive
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Text
TitleInfo
Title
The cyber-framing of Nigerian nationhood
SubTitle
diaspora and the imagined nation
Identifier
ETD_2397
Identifier
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http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.000052212
Identifier
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doi:10.7282/T38G8KT7
Language
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English
Genre
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theses
Subject
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Topic
Communication, Information and Library Studies
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Information technology--Political aspects--Nigeria
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Information technology--Social aspects--Nigeria
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Information society
Abstract
(type = abstract)
Postings generated during 'natural' online interactions among geographically dispersed/ diasporic Nigerians contain ideas from different intellectual sources. A few of the ideas encapsulated within texts produced were brought to the fore, discussed, and analyzed. The consequent search for the presence of indigenous knowledge within the postings produced a promise not a substantial product that can be circulated within the discipline of new media studies.
The chosen method of analysis subjected online conversations and reflections to close readings aimed at extracting contextual and inter-textual meanings. This study also expands on the fundamental question raised by Misty Bastian in relation to how absence of physical constraints (and potential violence) is reflected in nationalist discourse. I argued that freedom from physical constraints and potential violence has been replaced by norms, novelties of virtual spaces, dominance of Western paradigms and epistemological shackles imposed by technology now act as the barriers to nationalist cyber-discourse. Textual analysis reveals that Nigerians draw extensively from a broad spectrum of ideas, but most significantly from notions emanating from Europe and America. In addition, Western notions like nationalism, nationhood, and state can hardly be differentiated in the consciousness of some contributors. This study presents traces of hegemony of Western ideas in postings and conversations online. Nigeria's presence as a postcolonial nation (or nation space) is established online through various activities of citizens at home and in the diaspora. These communicative activities and political activism have led to a wide range of scholarly interrogations and interventions in media, communication and migration studies against the backdrop of globalization, democratization, and modernization theories. It has been amply documented that communication and social interaction produce ideas that can be evaluated along the lines of deliberative democracy. These approaches have produced outcomes without the benefit of the complex debates, dialogues, and disagreements that come with popular participation and creation of variegated knowledge by a collective.
I conclude that the concept of nationhood is not fixed but it a symbolic construct that evolves through unstructured conversations, sharing, and intense debates.
The chosen method of analysis subjected online conversations and reflections to close readings aimed at extracting contextual and inter-textual meanings. This study also expands on the fundamental question raised by Misty Bastian in relation to how absence of physical constraints (and potential violence) is reflected in nationalist discourse. I argued that freedom from physical constraints and potential violence has been replaced by norms, novelties of virtual spaces, dominance of Western paradigms and epistemological shackles imposed by technology now act as the barriers to nationalist cyber-discourse. Textual analysis reveals that Nigerians draw extensively from a broad spectrum of ideas, but most significantly from notions emanating from Europe and America. In addition, Western notions like nationalism, nationhood, and state can hardly be differentiated in the consciousness of some contributors. This study presents traces of hegemony of Western ideas in postings and conversations online. Nigeria's presence as a postcolonial nation (or nation space) is established online through various activities of citizens at home and in the diaspora. These communicative activities and political activism have led to a wide range of scholarly interrogations and interventions in media, communication and migration studies against the backdrop of globalization, democratization, and modernization theories. It has been amply documented that communication and social interaction produce ideas that can be evaluated along the lines of deliberative democracy. These approaches have produced outcomes without the benefit of the complex debates, dialogues, and disagreements that come with popular participation and creation of variegated knowledge by a collective.
I conclude that the concept of nationhood is not fixed but it a symbolic construct that evolves through unstructured conversations, sharing, and intense debates.
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ix, 266 p. : ill.
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Ph.D.
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Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-264)
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by Kole Ade Odutola
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Odutola
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Kole Ade
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1960-
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Kole Ade Odutola
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Pavlik
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Dr. John
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Dr. John Pavlik
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Dr. Barbra
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Dr. Barbra Reed
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Mokros
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Dr. Hartmut
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Dr. Hartmut B Mokros
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Falola
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Dr. Toyin
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Dr. Toyin Falola
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Rutgers University
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Graduate School - New Brunswick
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2010
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2010-01
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xx
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Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD
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Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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Rights
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
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Copyright protected
Notice
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Open
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Note
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Odutola
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Kole
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2010-01-05 15:08:07
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Kole Odutola
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Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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